Profile: Roza Otunbayeva

Former foreign minister is claiming to be Kyrgyzstan's interim leader.

08 Apr 2010 11:59 GMT

Otunbayeva is a a previous ally of Bakiyev, who has fled the capital [Reuters]

Roza Otunbayeva, a former foreign minister, is claiming to be Kyrgyzstan's interim leader after clashes between government troops and protesters left at least 75 people dead and forced Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the president, to flee the capital.

"The interim government will remain in place for half a year, during which we will draft the constitution and create conditions for free and fair elections," Otunbayeva said on Thursday.

Otunbayeva is widely viewed as having presidential ambitions.

She is an articulate politician who helped steer the ex-Soviet republic's 2005 Tulip Revolution which ousted Askar Akayev, the previous president, and brought Bakiyev to power.

Ally-turned-foe

The 59-year-old former career diplomat served as foreign minister in the 1990s under Akayev but broke with him in 2004 to join the opposition movement.